The distraught father of an 11-year-old boy with special needs who is still waiting to be allocated a secondary school place has made an emotional appeal for his son to be treated fairly.

Noah Holden, who has autism, attention deficit disorder, epilepsy and dyslexia, has already been turned down by five schools, including his top four choices and a fifth school which offered its last remaining seven places to children who had already been placed elsewhere but then changed their minds.

In a heart-breaking video uploaded on Facebook, Noah's father Michael Holden broke down in tears as he spoke of his frustration at his young son's treatment.

He said Noah had gone off to Killinchy Primary School on Friday, convinced he'd be coming home to some good news, after his parents had submitted an application to Down High School only to be told the last seven places had gone.

Mr Holden, who has Motor Neurone Disease and is the chairman of the Centre for Independent Living, said in the video message: "When Noah comes home, I have to tell him again that nobody wants him."

Speaking to Belfast Live, Mr Holden said the treatment of his son was 'discrimination' and that no child should be made to feel unwanted.

He said: "On the Saturday Noah's friends all got their letter to say which schools they were going to but Noah got nothing. When Monday came there was still no letter so I rang the Education Authority and was told, over the phone, that Noah hadn't been accepted by any of his top four schools; Lagan College, Grosvenor Grammar, Saintfield High and Campbell College.

"I was advised to go and look at the website for schools available and we then submitted an application to Down High School. But then we found out the school had given their last remaining seven places to children, who had already been allocated schools but had then changed their minds.

"How is my son supposed to compete against that? They're not on a level playing field. It's two weeks on now and he still hasn't been allocated a place. He's terribly upset because he thinks no one wants him. And what really broke my heart was when he said to me 'if I go to the schools and let them see what a nice boy I am, they might change their minds'."

Noah was diagnosed with autism and epilepsy when he was three years old and with ADD and dyslexia at the age of nine. Last June his epilepsy consultant took him off his medication to see if he would outgrow his focal seizures, while being monitored closely.

In December Michael and Noah's mum Jennifer were told to bring him to an emergency appointment the following month when they were told he was still having the seizures.

Not only that, they were told Noah had been having the seizures during his transfer tests, which would have affected his transfer test results. However when Michael looked into it, he was told the deadline to submit exceptional circumstances had passed on December 16 and Noah's focal seizures could not be taken into consideration.

The family is now seeking legal advice and have cancelled holiday plans in July to concentrate on sorting out Noah's schooling.

An Education Authority spokesperson said: “The Open Enrolment process enables parents to state their preferences for the school(s) they wish their children to attend, subject to places being available.

"These places must be allocated according to each school’s published admissions criteria. Under the relevant legislation it is the responsibility of the Board of Governors of each grant-aided school to draw up the criteria to be applied in selecting children for admission to that school.”